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ExtremeCloud IQ vs WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

ExtremeCloud IQ
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
76
Ranking in other categories
Network Management Applications (13th), Network Access Control (NAC) (11th), Intrusion Detection and Prevention Software (IDPS) (21st)
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
Wireless LAN (24th)
 

Mindshare comparison

ExtremeCloud IQ and WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. ExtremeCloud IQ is designed for Network Management Applications and holds a mindshare of 2.7%, down 2.8% compared to last year.
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi, on the other hand, focuses on Wireless LAN, holds 0.5% mindshare, up 0.5% since last year.
Network Management Applications Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ExtremeCloud IQ2.7%
Cisco DNA Center21.8%
Cisco Catalyst Center9.9%
Other65.6%
Network Management Applications
Wireless LAN Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi0.5%
Aruba Wireless15.4%
Ruckus Wireless13.8%
Other70.3%
Wireless LAN
 

Featured Reviews

KristianLarsen - PeerSpot reviewer
Helps resolve network-related issues quickly and is reasonably priced
The tool has both advantages and weaknesses because it has several pieces of software on which it has been working because of buyouts. The tool has several branches of software versions, and you can consolidate it into ExtremeCloud, but it also has the disadvantage that sometimes people can get issues because the software on the hardware is different than they expected, especially if it is not converted to the tool used. The tool has simplified things, but it also adds a complexity that sometimes stumps some users. In the future, I think the tool’s onboarding setup of a new tenant could be smoother or faster. I also think that they could provide a simpler setup for first-level support so that it can be easier for them to have a support dashboard that would help them. I am talking about customer support organizations, so you usually have a high turnaround, but you need to have something that is easier to use and where you don't need so much training.
WarrenWilliams - PeerSpot reviewer
A solution that offers excellent support and makes it easy to manage networks
To utilize the solution properly, you need some training and guidance on that. Getting it working is easy, but if you're going to use it with feature sets that make WatchGuard worthwhile to use, it's probably not the easiest to set up. I'd rate the initial setup a seven out of ten. The time taken to deploy the solution depends on the project scope you're doing. Do you need ten WiFi access points or one? You could deploy the solution in an hour. We need one person to deploy the solution. But the number of people required for deployment depends on where the access points are deployed. Like, if it's the ceiling or whatever. The way we do it, we usually have an on-site technician who sets up the backend. We usually have two people when deploying the solution, but you can do it with one person. We have a team that manages the solution. But if you have ten people on a site to manage the solution, 15 minutes daily is enough.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"When we deployed the new IP that is managed wirelessly in the cloud, it fixed the problems. Now, we don't have any more reports, and everything works fine."
"This solution's most valuable feature is its short deployment time."
"App and firewall security at the AP."
"Ability to assign zero trust policies from the user."
"Our transaction polling is now way more secure."
"The dashboards are great and the user interface is quite intuitive."
"It is more cost effective and gives more flexibility."
"ExtremeCloud IQ is integrated with the Ekahau tool so that you can log in to the ExtremeCloud IQ portal, upload the cloud plans, draw all the interiors, and plan the APs with the real-time AP position."
"The Wi-Fi security features of this solution have been great for our customers who need to strictly control access to their network."
"We like that WatchGuard works and integrates directly with the firewalls we use."
"They're very easy to set up and get running."
"The solution has been stable."
"Cloud analytics that provide all its attributes."
"It makes it easy to obtain all information about the client experience."
"The configuration part of WatchGuard is very flexible."
 

Cons

"The certification costs from suppliers are getting out of control, and it's not just Extreme. We have the same problem with Cisco and Huawei."
"Browser load time for the cloud is long and needs improvement."
"The solution will show us that there are some issues, but when we try to find those issues, we can't see them."
"The licensing model could be improved."
"An area for improvement in ExtremeCloud IQ is its technical support. Support could be better, especially when you need help concerning ExtremeCloud IQ and WinG."
"I struggled with the documentation."
"Their firewall configuration gets funky and it can be difficult to understand."
"I struggled with the documentation. I expected comprehensive documentation and videos but found them to be too simple."
"The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention."
"One of the things is if you buy it with a certain subscription, you can't easily change the subscription level."
"The price of this solution needs to reviewed, as it is currently high enough to deter customers from trying it."
"If a client device had issues with authentication due to out of date browser or similar difficulties, it would be nice to have the ability to migrate the client onto the portal via one click."
"Inability to import a user with one click."
"I don't think they're available at the best price."
"The solution can be scaled but it has limitations from my experience."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I did a multi-year license. It was a three-year license. It compares well with others in terms of the price. It is about a hundred dollars per year on a three-year scale."
"It is not the cheapest product but I think that the price is reasonable because you get a lot of support of it's needed."
"Bring the cost down."
"I would advise that you be sure to compare apples with apples. Many customers just look at the price per AP and licences, and compare that against other solutions. But, they do not look at the complete picture such as: TCO - how much the equipment will cost you over, say, seven years? Will the customer need to change complete infrastructure when they want to buy the newest hardware? Does support include a lifetime warranty and RMA?"
"Buy near the end of Q4 in order to get a deal."
"It is costly as compared to Meraki, Aruba, Juniper, and Cisco. Cloud IQ is an enterprise solution, whereas Meraki is specifically a single solution."
"Although the pricing is a bit high, I consider Aerohive to be well worth the money."
"ExtremeCloud IQ's pricing is high."
"The solution is priced high compared to competitors. However, for the features that are included in the solution, the price becomes more reasonable."
"WatchGuard is on the upper scale for pricing."
"Your licensing and cost, as would be required for many other solutions, being considered for eighty to two hundred and eighty different physical locations, is just about the same amount per access point."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Educational Organization
9%
Non Profit
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Retailer
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business45
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise24
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business5
Midsize Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What are pros and cons of Aruba 515 Series AP vs. Cisco Meraki or Extreme Networks?
Depends. I have personally used both Cisco and Aruba so I am familiar with them. Extreme I am not, so unless they have some feature that I need or want, I wouldn't consider them. Do you have expe...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ExtremeCloud IQ?
The licensing was a challenge due to budget constraints, and I used ExtremeCloud IQ without a license for a period. The documentation and training courses were also costly, impacting how easily I c...
What advice do you have for others considering ExtremeCloud IQ?
I rate the overall solution nine out of ten only due to the poor documentation. Despite this, I was very happy with ExtremeCloud IQ as it greatly eased my workload, allowing me to manage the networ...
What needs improvement with WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
The support response can be time-consuming because sometimes issues are very sensitive and require instant attention. Also, when an incident occurs, the impact can be significantly huge. A recent p...
What is your primary use case for WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We use WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi because we have used different tools as well, like Ubiquiti. The complexity of Ubiquiti is much more compared to WatchGuard, which provides more flexibility and is ea...
What advice do you have for others considering WatchGuard Secure Wi‑Fi?
We recommend using WatchGuard Secure Wi-Fi, but when incidents occur, it can be very difficult to identify why they happen. Normally, the issues are simple to fix, but we recently faced a major inc...
 

Also Known As

Aerohive Networks, Aerohive HiveManager, HiveManager, ExtremeCloud , ExtremeSecurity
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Henry Ford Health System, Baltimore Ravens, Brandili, Federal University of Alagoas, CEDAE, Caxias do Sul, UNISC Concurrency, CenturyLink Field, Louisiana College, Cricket Tasmania Stadium, Moscow Internet Exchange
Portsmouth Grammar School, HILOTEC
Find out what your peers are saying about Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Fortinet and others in Network Management Applications. Updated: August 2025.
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